Complete financial novice

Albermarle

Rmwilliams10 said:

DRS1 said:

I notice everyone is ignoring the house buying question.  There is lots of good stuff about pension contributions and child benefit but whatever the OP puts in a pension is not going to be available for the house purchase.

You don't say how much equity there is in your current house and how much you want to spend on a new one (probably not possible to be precise about either figure but it may give you some idea of whether you need spare funds for a deposit or to avoid a new mortgage being too much).  If you have some idea of how much you are likely to be spending on the house then you can see if there is anything "spare" for pensions.

The company shares may well be a good source of funds for the house but are they quoted shares?  Can they be sold easily?  You may want to open an account with an investment platform (HL AJBell ii etc) and get the certificated shares onto their electronic platform to make them easier to sell (assuming they are quoted of course).

Following up on @poseidon1's post there are threads on here about getting SAYE Scheme shares into an ISA
SAYE to ISA — MoneySavingExpert Forum
That one links to another thread which may be useful if your shares (on exercise) are worth more than the £20k ISA limit
SAYE transfer shares into Stocks and Shares ISA within 90 Days — MoneySavingExpert Forum
This one refers to an HL page which also mentions shares from a SIP - you mention a SIP but I am not sure if the share are still in it.
Company SAYE share scheme maturing — MoneySavingExpert Forum
This one has a bit of stuff about how it was done in practice which may be helpful.

Hi,  thanks for the reply. There's not a lot of equity in the current house - id guesstimate 60-80k and new property will likely be up to 550k(ish).

By quoted, do you mean they're listed on the stock exchange? They're definitely listed on the LSE...large pharma company. Some of the shares are held in equiniti/sharesave so very easy to share others i just have certificates and I dont think these are held anywhere electronically at the moment

Thanks for the links, I have a HL active savings account (as of this afternoon!) So I'll see if I can create the right account to transfer certificate shares in.

Just for clarity HL are essentially an investment platform, where you can buy, sell and hold investments. As mentioned you can hold these investments within a S&S ISA ( annual contribution limits apply) or not if you want to add more than the limit. Outside the ISA you have to monitor and buys and sells, plus dividend payments, to work out if you owe any tax ( which is why it is better to own the investments within an ISA) .
As a sideline, HL offer a kind of savings account marketplace, which is the Active Savings account. I am not sure if signing up for that automatically means you have access to the investment platform, or not.

My pension contributions are 12% a month, I have no idea whether thats good or not.
It is probably more than most people, but without knowing the following it is difficult to comment further.
1) How much does the employer add?
2) How much is in the pension?
3) How old are you ?

Rmwilliams10

Albermarle said:

Rmwilliams10 said:

DRS1 said:

I notice everyone is ignoring the house buying question.  There is lots of good stuff about pension contributions and child benefit but whatever the OP puts in a pension is not going to be available for the house purchase.

You don't say how much equity there is in your current house and how much you want to spend on a new one (probably not possible to be precise about either figure but it may give you some idea of whether you need spare funds for a deposit or to avoid a new mortgage being too much).  If you have some idea of how much you are likely to be spending on the house then you can see if there is anything "spare" for pensions.

The company shares may well be a good source of funds for the house but are they quoted shares?  Can they be sold easily?  You may want to open an account with an investment platform (HL AJBell ii etc) and get the certificated shares onto their electronic platform to make them easier to sell (assuming they are quoted of course).

Following up on @poseidon1's post there are threads on here about getting SAYE Scheme shares into an ISA
SAYE to ISA — MoneySavingExpert Forum
That one links to another thread which may be useful if your shares (on exercise) are worth more than the £20k ISA limit
SAYE transfer shares into Stocks and Shares ISA within 90 Days — MoneySavingExpert Forum
This one refers to an HL page which also mentions shares from a SIP - you mention a SIP but I am not sure if the share are still in it.
Company SAYE share scheme maturing — MoneySavingExpert Forum
This one has a bit of stuff about how it was done in practice which may be helpful.

Hi,  thanks for the reply. There's not a lot of equity in the current house - id guesstimate 60-80k and new property will likely be up to 550k(ish).

By quoted, do you mean they're listed on the stock exchange? They're definitely listed on the LSE...large pharma company. Some of the shares are held in equiniti/sharesave so very easy to share others i just have certificates and I dont think these are held anywhere electronically at the moment

Thanks for the links, I have a HL active savings account (as of this afternoon!) So I'll see if I can create the right account to transfer certificate shares in.

Just for clarity HL are essentially an investment platform, where you can buy, sell and hold investments. As mentioned you can hold these investments within a S&S ISA ( annual contribution limits apply) or not if you want to add more than the limit. Outside the ISA you have to monitor and buys and sells, plus dividend payments, to work out if you owe any tax ( which is why it is better to own the investments within an ISA) .
As a sideline, HL offer a kind of savings account marketplace, which is the Active Savings account. I am not sure if signing up for that automatically means you have access to the investment platform, or not.

My pension contributions are 12% a month, I have no idea whether thats good or not.
It is probably more than most people, but without knowing the following it is difficult to comment further.
1) How much does the employer add?
2) How much is in the pension?
3) How old are you ?

Hi, employer pays nothing (have a benefits fund so we can choose how much to put in)

Would need to check how much is in the pension and I'm 37

On-the-coast

I think your employer legally has to contribute 5% on earnings above the lower NI level - but maybe that’s wrapped up in your benefits fund (in your mind at least).  

Ultimately it’s all about your taxable earnings at year end.  

Nothing in your SIP (including SIP dividends should count towards that - and the best way to keep things that way is to shift shares into s&S ISA when they mature. 

BTW surprised no one has mentioned the free ride your BiL is getting - does he at least pay council tax and utilities?   Could you evict him if you needed cash in an emergency?

DRS1

Is this the "benefits fund" you are talking about?
Astra Zeneca guide for members
The bit on contributions is a bit opaque on who pays them but it could well be that some of the 8% of basic comes from the employer.

Bostonerimus1

Personal finances is pretty simple...in principle. You need to make a spreadsheet with everyting ion it and understand where everything is. Researching and understanding your pension is the first thing to do. Right now you don't know where your money is going or even if some of it is from your employer. This is almost criminally neglectful, but you are not out of the ordinary.

1) Start charging your brother in law rent
2) Make sure you have 6 months spending in the bank
3) Pay off all high interest debt.
4) Pay into your workplace pensions, 12% is a good starting amount, contribute more if you can. Buy inexpensive index funds or a multi-asset fund. If your time horizon is more than 10 years concentrate on global equity funds. Make sure you understand the tax advantages of your pension and how it is invested and the fund options you have within the pension.
5) Contribute to a stocks and shares ISA, buy low cost index or multi-asset funds. You can fund that with the rent you get from the brother-in-law. Open JISA's for your children.
6) If you have maxed out pensions and ISAs then buy low cost index or multi-asset funds in a general investing account.
7) Think about making extra mortgage payments; another good use for the brother-in-law's rent.

Rmwilliams10

On-the-coast said:

I think your employer legally has to contribute 5% on earnings above the lower NI level - but maybe that’s wrapped up in your benefits fund (in your mind at least).  

Ultimately it’s all about your taxable earnings at year end.  

Nothing in your SIP (including SIP dividends should count towards that - and the best way to keep things that way is to shift shares into s&S ISA when they mature. 

BTW surprised no one has mentioned the free ride your BiL is getting - does he at least pay council tax and utilities?   Could you evict him if you needed cash in an emergency?

A very specific set of circumstances relate to BiL being there, a mix of personal issues and also the apartment has unsafe cladding being removed and replaced so its not an idyllic place at the moment (caged in scaffolding - they cant even open the windows!) He does pay all utilities and council tax - im just paying the mortgage and mgmt service fees. I could evict if necessary but we're all very long way from needing to do that right now.

Rmwilliams10

DRS1 said:

Is this the "benefits fund" you are talking about?
Astra Zeneca guide for members
The bit on contributions is a bit opaque on who pays them but it could well be that some of the 8% of basic comes from the employer.

Yes thats the one.

Baldytyke88

Rmwilliams10 said:

Hi, employer pays nothing (have a benefits fund so we can choose how much to put in)

Would need to check how much is in the pension and I'm 37

If you worked in the public sector their total pension contributions are always above 20%, in teaching the employer pays around 25%, so your contributions are low.

You can put a good percentage in a SIPP and this may bring your income down enough to qualify for child benefit.

The annual SIPP allowance is £60k

Bostonerimus1

Baldytyke88 said:

Rmwilliams10 said:

Hi, employer pays nothing (have a benefits fund so we can choose how much to put in)

Would need to check how much is in the pension and I'm 37

If you worked in the public sector their total pension contributions are always above 20%, in teaching the employer pays around 25%, so your contributions are low.

You can put a good percentage in a SIPP and this may bring your income down enough to qualify for child benefit.

The annual SIPP allowance is £60k

Some Googling seems to be saying that for employees hired after 2019 Astra Zeneca stopped making DC pension contributions. If so this is just another example of employers effectively cutting salaries. Shame on them.

enthusiasticsaver

Given you intend to move home and will need to use savings I would be reluctant to put too much in your pension.  Maximise employers contributions by all means and of course long term it is the most tax efficient but once in your pension you cannot get it out until you are mid to late 50s.  Personally I would sell the flat (given you aren't making money on it anyway) providing this will not cause a massive fallout with your BIL.  Then you will have a substantial deposit on the new house with the equity in your current home plus savings and the equity in the flat.  As it is you are paying your BILs rent given you are covering the mortgage on it.